This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Michael Cera's career continues to regress, helped along by poor movie choices, like this one. He was great in Arrested Development and Juno, both of which were excellent series/movies. Everything else has been mediocre, and this is the worst of the lot.Started off well enough, and I was imagining a John Hughes-like script unfolding. Unfortunately, it just drifted after a point, and resorted to gross-out and otherwise immature comedy. The romantic side seemed contrived, and most of the time didn't make sense.Ultimately, meaningless and boring. Avoid.

It's shamelessly clichéd, and yet the headline couple make such an awkward and adorable pair that they compel you to watch til the end. Both Cena and Dennings are very likable in their own inimitable styles, Cena his usual gawky yet awkwardly smug self, Dennings also typical in her independent, sharp-witted disguise that conceals a softer centre. Their midnight antics as they try to locate a missing mutual friend, and the oddballs they encounter is a great night out, something perhaps to which a lot of viewers could relate.Maybe a little uneven at times, there's a very awkward scene towards the end that seems superfluous and it surprises me that it made the final cut as it really had no bearing on the outcome. Not to labour the point, I just felt it was insignificant in the context of the plot and seemed disjointed and out of place.One of those films where the chase makes the movie entertaining, but the destination is not as gratifying. Solid effort despite the rather cryptic and clumsy title.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008): Dir: Peter Sollett / Cast: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Alexis Dziena, Ari Graynor, Aaron Yoo: Teen comedy about relationships that play out within one long evening. Michael Cera and his band scope the town in search of a band named Fluffy. He is dealing with a recent breakup. Kat Dennings plays Norah whose best friend gets drunk and goes missing. She and Nick hook up in search of her. Simple plot is basically a series of adventures of high school seniors in the late hours that includes no adult supervision. Directed by Peter Sollett who previously made the independent film Raising Victor Vargas. Here he is given great locations along with a screenplay that isn't so great. Cera and Dennings are capable young actors reduced to running from scene to scene with facial expressions that do not convince us that they are having a good career moment. Alexis Driena plays Cera's snotty ex-girlfriend who suddenly shows interest when someone else begins paying attention to him. Ari Graynor plays Nora's misplaced drunk friend who wanders aimlessly about before hanging her head in a toilet. We are even treated to a moment where she fishes her gum out of the toilet and puts it in her mouth. Perhaps it was her reaction to the news that the Academy Awards wouldn't be honoring her for this. Standard teen comedy that will likely be on nobody's playlist. Score: 3 / 10

A teen romantic comedy set in the world of indy rock wannabes, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist gives Michael Cera a slightly less pathetic role than usual and wonderfully recreates the free flowing, borderless anarchy of your late teens. Add in the beautiful Kat Dennings, who's a much better actress than I think she gets credit for and gets to play an actual person here instead of just a girlfriend, and you've got a fun and funny little film. This thing does have an ending that's one of the most pointlessly extended dénouements I've ever seen, but by that point spending a little more time with these characters is not something you complain about.Nick (Michael Cera) is a high school kid still mooning over his ex (Alexis Dziena) when the other members of his struggling band drag him out of his depression and to a gig in New York City. There he runs into Norah (Kat Dennings), a Jewish Catholic school girl who's out for a night on the town with her BFF, the adoringly inebriated Caroline (Ari Graynor). Nick's ex is there too with her new guy, and she also happens to be a schoolmate and frenemy of Norah's. To defy taunts about her datelessness, Nora lassos Nick into pretending to be her boyfriend and helping her get the drunken Caroline home. Nick's bandmates then push Nick and Norah together by agreeing to take care of Caroline. Things don't go so smoothly for anyone after that, but Nick and Norah are stuck together all night looking for Caroline when she goes missing. I don't think anyone could possibly be surprised at how things work out but most everyone will enjoy the ride.This may be one of the best roles in which I've seen Cera. Nick is similar to his type but has much more of a spine and his pitifulness appears to be more the product of his heartbreak and depression, rather than just being a loser. There's a basic strength and togetherness to Nick that's visible early on and it's refreshingly realistic. This is a guy and not a high school archetype. Likewise, while there's a bit of the "poor little rich girl" to Norah, the film shies away from that and instead focuses on the paradox that Norah can be so forceful when it comes to protecting her friend and so weak about protecting herself. There are moments of this screenplay that perfectly capture that awkward and even combative aspect of extended adolescence where you're desperately trying to connect with someone else while just as desperately trying to define yourself, though they'd just be words on a page without Cera and Dennings so nicely bringing them to life.Now there is a lot of aggressively prominent music throughout this movie, which is normally something that drives me up the wall. Pop or alt-rock songs swelling up on the soundtrack for repeated segues or montages is one of the worst habits of this era of cinema. It's become beyond cliché and too often features just terrible songs that no one besides hipsters ever like. Here, though, the music is good and its constant presence fits the milieu these young people nestle and swim in. It's an effective atmosphere rather than an intrusive bit of product placement.Besides Cera and Dennings, their fellow castmates are quite entertaining on their own and are given just enough to do so that they're more than props surrounding the two stars without ever competing with them for the viewer's attention. Ari Graynor, in particular, has a role that could have gone very wrong, very easily. Yet, there's enough restraint to the part and enough ease to Graynor's performance that it adds a great deal to the whole.The ending of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is not good. Essentially, it comes to an appropriate climax (so to speak) and then remembers a heavily stressed plot point is unresolved. So the movie has to keep to going for that and they decide, to kill time, to have Nick and Norah repeat the emotional challenges they triumphed over just 10 minutes before. It's as awkward as any teenage moment in the rest of the film.I liked this motion picture enough to recommend it to anyone wanting a teen romantic comedy that's lighter on crudity and heavier on intelligent characterization. Give it a try.